Tourniquet may also be referred to as :

Tips for buying Tourniquet

A pneumatic tourniquet in
surgical applications maintains the minimum pressure necessary to stop
blood flow in the limb. This minimum pressure setting is affected by
factors like repositioning the limb during the procedure, changes in
systolic pressure, and the ratio of cuff width to limb circumference.

These tourniquets are mainly
used to occlude blood flow and to obtain a bloodless field during lower
limb surgery. Tourniquets also facilitate intravenous regional anesthesia,
an alternative to general anesthesia for surgery of the upper or lower
limbs.

Three basic components in
most tourniquets are: a cuff, a
means of inflating the cuff bladder, and a controller. Some controllers
also have a timer or an elapsed time meter.

To inflate tourniquet cuffs,
several methods are offered.

In the majority of tourniquets,
air or nitrogen is delivered from a wall outlet or a tank with a
regulator.

Some models use an electric
pump to compress ambient air for cuff inflation; these are mainly line
powered with backup batteries.

There is a model that uses
liquefied tetrafluoroethane from a canister that is discharged into a
glass reservoir in the controller. When released, the tetrafluoroethane
vaporizes and inflates the cuff. Here, the tourniquet prevents infused
local anesthetic from flowing out of the limb, as well as provides a
bloodless operating field.

Typically, a variety of
single and dual bladder tourniquet cuffs will be needed.

Both reusable and disposable tourniquet
cuffs are available, but a reusable cuff is more cost-effective because of
its long life.

Facilities should consider
whether a control valve is included with the controller or whether they
must purchase it separately, and also the cost of accessories such as
tubing and connectors for rotating tourniquets and DVT tourniquets.